Northwest Business.

Drive-by Caterers Serve Convenience Along With The Food

Speed-feeding Popular In Northwest Suburbs

August 03, 1998|By Karen Ann Cullotta, Tribune Staff Writer.

When the silver Curbside Cafe truck rolls into the parking lot of a Schaumburg car dealership each morning, a knot of hungry employees spills outdoors, yearning for Roy Rahning's corned beef hash and eggs.

Rahning, a former chef who studied at the Culinary Institute of New York, decided to trade in gourmet cuisine for comfort food two years ago after he bought two delivery trucks equipped with kitchens.

The roughly $135,000 investment is paying off for Rahning, whose Elgin-based business is among a burgeoning contingent of northwest suburban food-service companies taking advantage of what some experts refer to as a time famine.

Nestled inside Rahning's sleek truck is a full-service kitchen, boasting a stove, sink, fryer and oven. "I felt I could provide quality food to people who are looking for convenience," said Rahning, who serves such hearty fare as French toast and sausage, as well as fresh fruit salads, yogurt and bottled water.

"It's really hard for people today to find time to cook, or even go out to eat," Rahning said. "Everyone is trying to squeeze so much into their day."

Indeed, the phenomenon of too much to do and too little time has fueled businesses like the Curbside Cafe, Imperial Food Service in South Elgin and The Patisserie of Arlington in Arlington Heights.

The services vary, from the homemade pastries and gourmet salads Sue Dasso at the Patisserie prepares and delivers to corporations such as Ameritech and Motorola, to the soup and pasta served out of a fleet of 45 trucks canvassing the streets for Imperial Foods.

"People don't want to waste any time," Dasso said. "Everyone is so much busier today.", and taking an hour and a half to go out to lunch makes workers not as effective at the office."

"Time famine has affected all markets," added Prashant Malaviya, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "When people are in their cars, they are not only driving but they are talking on the phone, eating, putting on makeup--even shaving."

Malaviya, who teaches a consumer behavior course, said one cultural phenomenon pumping up the local food delivery market is the desire for a 5-minute meal.

He points toward the proliferation of take-out food kitchens tucked inside grocery stores, with such offerings as Asian stir-fry dishes, pizza and roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy.

The flurry of delivered meals today reminds Malaviya of his childhood in India, where a tradition of bringing meals out to work sites stretches back 200 years.

"It is a very old industry in Bombay, but the difference is the carriers are paid to deliver meals that were prepared at home by women," Malaviya said. "The social forces behind the business in India are the burden of pressure to be a good wife. Here, the social force is the desire to get ahead and to make more money."

Cultural anthropology aside, the convenience factor that allows employees to nibble on delivered meals at their desks and increase their productivity on the job is paying off for food-service companies.

Scott Lewis at Imperial Food Service said the mobile catering truck business has soared recently. "Customers like the convenience of not having to stop whatever they are doing at work," Lewis said.

Customers flocking to order breakfast and lunch from the Curbside Cafe also appreciate the economic benefits.

"The food from the truck is convenient and very reasonably priced," said Dionne Mamrot, 25, who ordered a $2.75 ham-and-cheese sandwich recently from the Curbside Cafe truck parked outside Patrick Cadillac and Volvo in Schaumburg. "I have a 10-month-old son, and the mornings are so busy, I never have time to eat."

Mamrot's co-worker, Mike Tubbs, 35, recalls an era when Curbside Cafe would have had a tough time.

"My mom used to make my dad breakfast and pack his lunch every morning," Tubbs said. "My wife works, and our daughter keeps us pretty busy in the morning. Instead of making me a lunch, my wife just throws me some money."